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A 


r  e  Vi  e  w 

OF 
OF 

NEW- YORK, 

FROM  1815  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 
WITH 

AN  INQUIRY 

INTO  THE 

CAUSES  OF  THE  PRESENT  DISTRESS, 

AND 

THE  MEANS  OF  OBVIATING  IT. 
BY  AN  OBSERVER. 

JNEW-YORK : 

PRINTED  BY  C.  S.  VAN  WINKLE, 
101  Greenwich-street: 


1820. 


Southern.  District  of  Netv-  Vorfr,  ss. 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  the  twenty -eighth  day  of  January,  in  the 
forty-fourth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  John 
M'Creaov,  of  the  said  district,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the 
right  whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit: 

"  A  Review  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  New- York,  from  1815  to  the  present 
time  With  an  Inquiry  into  the  cause  of  the  present  distress,  and  the  means  of  ob- 
viating it    By  an  Observer." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled,  "  An  act  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books, 
to  the  autnors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned 
and  also,  to  an  act,  entitled,  "An  act  supplementary  to  an  act,  entitled,  an  act  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books, 
to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned, 
and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching 
historical  and  other  prints." 

GILBERT  LIVINGSTON  THOMPSON, 
Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


PREFACE, 


The  review  here  given  of  the  business  of  New- 
York,  for  the  last  five  years,  might  easily  have 
been  extended  to  a  volume.  The  great  object  has 
been,  to  comprise  as  much  matter  as  possible  in  few 
words.  Little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  selection 
of  words  or  to  beauty  of  language.  The  subject  is 
a  mercantile  one;  and  on  such  a  subject  simplicity  and 
correctness  oj  detail  is  all  that  is  required.  It  ivas 
originally  intended  to  have  added  a  table,  exhibiting  the 
amount  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  New-York,  for 
a  considerable  period ;  and  to  have  exhibited  the  value 
of  the  raw  materials  of  the  United  States,  in  Liverpool, 
for  a  number  of  years  past.  It  ivas  likewise  intended 
to  have  given  a  comparative  view  of  the  amount  of 
goods  sold  at  auction,  and  of  the  imports  into  New- 
York,  for  a  successive  number  of  years.  This  is  the 
only  method  that  can  be  adopted,  to  show  the  compara- 


iv 

tive  amount  of  business  in  the  hands  of  the  auc- 
tioneer'sy  and  the  great  monopoly  of  trade  which  they 
enjoy. 

The  materials  for  these  tables  are  collecting,  but  it 
will  require  some  length  of  time  for  their  completion. 
Should  this  revieiv  be  received  favourably,  they  will 
be  given  at  some  future  period. 


R  E  V  I  E  W 


OF 

THE  TRADE  AND  COMMERCE 

OF 

NEW-YORK. 


The  year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifteen  will  be  long 
remembered,  as  forming  an  interesting  era  in  the  an- 
nals of  our  country.  It  returned  to  us  peace — estab- 
lished our  national  character — broke  down  the  con- 
tentions of  party,  which  had  threatened  the  unity  of 
the  states — replenished  our  exhausted  treasury,  and 
restored  to  our  citizens  the  prosecution  of  their  for- 
mer mercantile  pursuits.  The  gloom  which  for  years 
had  hung  upon  our  prospects  appeared  to  be  dissi- 
pated, and  the  path  opened  to  national  greatness  and 
individual  wealth.  In  the  prosecution  of  public  con- 
cerns we  are  realizing  our  highest  hopes  ;  while  the 
affairs  of  private  life,  on  the  contrary,  have  been  doom  - 
ed to  encounter  embarrassment,  distress,  and  ruin. 

Of  this  we  shall  be  deeply  convinced  by  looking 
back  upon  the  business  of  the  first  year  of  the  peace, 
and  comparing  its  active  scenes — the  noise,  the  bustle, 
and  the  hurry  of  the  times — the  sprightly,  gay,  and 


6 


animated  countenances  of  the  merchants,  with  the 
present  general  stagnation  of  business — the  silence  of 
the  streets — the  decay  of  the  shipping,  and  the  immense 
sacrifice  of  property  by  our  citizens.  A  review,  there- 
fore, of  the  past,  and  an  investigation  of  the  causes 
that  have  produced  such  general  ruin,  cannot  be  un- 
acceptable. Such  a  review  will  present  a  history  of 
what  has  taken  place  ;  and,  by  a  close  examination 
into  the  causes  that  produced  them,  we  shall  be  ena- 
bled to  ascertain  whether  they  have  yet  ceased  to  ope- 
rate ;  and  if  not,  whether  any  thing  can  be  done  to 
release  us  from  their  baleful  influence. 

In  pursuing  this  inquiry,  it  will  be  necessary,  in 
order  to  a  full  development  of  the  subject,  to  revert 
back  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  one  immediately  in 
view. 

The  true  interests  of  our  country,  and  the  character 
and  pursuits  of  its  inhabitants,  had  hardly  begun  to 
unfold  themselves  when  the  French  revolution  burst 
upon  the  world.  This  great  event  not  only  involved 
the  interests  of  all  Europe,  but  deeply  affected  the 
wealth  and  mercantile  pursuits  of  America. 

The  scarcity  of  provisions  in  France,  in  1791,  pre- 
sented a  market  for  the  surplus  produce  of  America, 
superior  to  any  we  had  before  enjoyed.  Those  who 
made  shipments  thither  acquired,  in  a  short  time, 
large  fortunes.  The  field  thus  opened,  awakened  the 
mercantile  spirit  and  enterprise  of  our  country.  The 
events  that  followed  gave  new  elasticity  to  the  springs 
already  put  in  operation. 

England,  at  this  time,  was  too  much  occupied  with 
providing  for  the  safety  of  her  own  government,  to 


1 


observe  the  increasing  greatness  of  America.  The 
ports  of  almost  every  nation  were  thrown  open  to  us — 
we  became  the  carriers  of  continental  Europe,  and  the 
productions  of  our  soil  everywhere  found  a  ready 
market.  From  1792  to  1804,  we  enjoyed  the  trade 
of  a  large  part  of  the  world  without  a  rival.  The 
great  belligerents  turned  their  attention  to  us.  Eng- 
land beheld  her  commercial  rival.  France  saw  us 
spreading  the  manufactures  of  Britain  throughout  the 
continent: — the  jealousy  of  both  was  excited,  and 
efforts  were  made  to  check  our  hitherto  uninterrupted 
mercantile  prosperity.  Napoleon  issued  his  decrees- 
England  her  orders  in  council ;  both  professing  that 
they  were  compelled  to  resort  to  these  measures  to 
counteract  those  of  the  other  nation. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  inquire,  at  this  time,  whether 
England  or  France  was  the  first  aggressor  upon  our 
commercial  rights  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  our 
foreign  trade  was  deeply  affected  by  these  measures  of 
the  two  great  contending  powers.  The  feelings  and 
the  interests  of  our  merchants  were  excited  by  them, 
and  the  national  government  was  loudly  called  upon 
to  vindicate  our  national  rights  and  national  charac- 
ter. Notwithstanding  the  injurious  effects  of  these 
measures,  our  trade  continued  to  prosper.  The  skill 
and  superiority  of  American  seamen  were  never  better 
evinced  than  in  the  manner  they  evaded  the  British, 
cruisers  that  blockaded  the  whole  coast  of  France  : 
and,  although  captures  to  a  large  amount  were  made, 
enough  escaped  to  make  the  trade  profitable,  and  pay 
for  the  risks  that  were  run. 


a 


Such  was  the  situation  of  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  from  the  commencement  of  the  Frenc  h 
Revolution  up  to  December,  1807,  when  either  the 
wisdom  or  the  policy  of  the  government  of  this  coun- 
try prompted  them  to  adopt  a  restrictive  system,  that 
deprived  the  merchants  of  this  country  of  the  lucra- 
tive trade  that  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed.  The  em- 
barrassments that  were  produced  by  this  measure  were 
obviated,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  paper  system, 
which,  at  that  period,  was  fast  increasing  in  this 
country. 

The  war  that  our  government  declared,  in  the  year 
1812,  against  Great  Britain,  called  into  action  the 
whole  resources  of  America,  and  ended  in  fostering  the 
high  prices  that  our  mercantile  prosperity  had  created 
in  this  country. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war,  there  had  been, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  French  Revolution  up 
to  that  period,  four  great  causes  combined,  which  cre- 
ated the  nominal  high  prices  that  were  then  experi- 
rienced,  and  which,  although  reduced,  in  some  mea- 
sure, at  the  present  time,  have  not  yet,  by  any  means, 
fallen  to  their  lowest  ebb.    These  four  causes  were, 

First.  The  whole  wealth  of  the  civilized  world  was 
put,  and  kept,  in  constant  circulation. 

Second.  The  credit  of  every  nation  was  called  into 
action. 

Third.  A  paper  system  was  devised  and  put  in 
execution,  which  created  a  nominal  capital,  by  which 
the  nominal  amount  of  our  circulating  medium  was 
greatly  increased ;  and, 


9 


Fourth.  Individual  credit  was  exerted  to  the  ut- 
most. 

In  order  to  show  more  fully  the  effect  of  these 
causes,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  take  a  rapid  view 
of  their  rise  and  progress. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  French  Revolution 
up  to  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
nearly  the  whole  world  was  continually  engaged  in 
one  mighty  contest.  Armies,  surpassing  any  thing 
that  had  been  before,  were  raised,  fed,  and  clothed. 
During  the  whole  of  this  period,  France  alone  con- 
stantly maintained  an  army  in  the  field,  varying  from 
two  hundred  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  thousand 
men,  the  average  of  which,  for  twenty-five  years,  can- 
not be  estimated  at  less  than  seven  hundred  thousand 
men  for  each  year. 

In  carrying  on  these  amazing  wars,  all  the  wealth 
and  all  the  credit  of  the  civilized  world  was  put  in 
operation.  The  riches  that  the  church  of  Rome  had 
been  hoarding  up  for  centuries  were,  by  one  act  of 
confiscation,  transferred  to  the  treasury  of  Napoleon. 
A  system  of  taxation  and  contribution,  embracing  in 
its  grasp  all  the  luxuries  and  necessaries  of  life,  was 
devised.  Even  the  haunts  erf  dissipation  and  vice 
were  legalized  and  interwoven  into  the  financial  sys- 
tem of  France.  England,  during  the  whole  of  this 
period,  called  into  immediate  action  all  the  wealth 
and  all  the  credit  of  that  immense  empire.  The  paper 
of  her  National  Bank  received  the  protection  of  Par- 
liament. The  credit  of  the  government  was  exerted 
to  the  utmost.    The  other  nations  of  Europe  made 

2 


10 


the  same  exertions  in  proportion  to  their  capacity  : 
Spain  drained  the  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru  ;  Rus- 
sia subsidized  Asia ;  whilst  England  called  to  her  aid 
the  gold  of  Ophir,  and  the  wealth  of  India.  The  arm 
of  power,  in  many  instances,  seized  upon  property 
wherever  it  could  be  found,  and  converted  ^  to  its 
own  use.  American  property  to  a  vast  amount  was 
condemned  without  a  shadow  of  law  or  right,  merely 
to  aid  in  replenishing  the  exhausted  treasuries  of  the 
contending  powers. 

The  great  increase  of  the  circulating  medium  of 
Europe,  thus  produced,  had  the  natural  tendency  to 
enhance  the  nominal  price  of  every  thing ;  and  the 
balance  of  trade  in  favour  of  the  United  States,  at  that 
time,  gave  to  us  the  full  proportion  of  the  increase  of 
the  precious  metals. 

Whilst  these  causes  were  operating  in  Europe  to 
increase  the  wealth  and  power  of  America,  a  system 
of  banking  was  devised  and  carried  into  execution  in 
this  country.  The  evils  arising  from  this  system  have 
gradually  extended  themselves  until  the  present  time. 
The  bank  of  North  America  was  established  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  year  1781,  with  a  capital  of  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Since  that  time,  a  period  of  thirty- 
eight  years,  the  nominal  banking  capital  of  the  United 
States  has  been  augmented  to  not  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 

The  evils  of  this  paper  system  were  not  felt  as  long 
as  the  United  States  enjoyed  the  uninterrupted  trade  of 
Europe.  The  increasing  demand  for  the  productions 
of  our  soil,  and  the  large  balance  of  trade  in  our  favour, 
arising  from  our  being  the  carriers  of  continental 


11 


Europe,  enabled  the  banks  of  this  country  to  emit 
paper  to  any  amount,  without  the  danger  of  its  being 
thrown  back  upon  them.* 

The  restrictive  system  adopted  by  our  government 
in  eighteen  hundred  and  seven,  and  followed  up  until 
the  conclusion  of  the  late  war,  operated,  in  some  mea- 
sure, to  check  our  mercantile  prosperity.  This  system 
produced  much  embarrassment :  the  merchants  com- 
plained— the  national  legislature  was  petitioned — 
the  general  government  adhered  to  its  restrictive  sys- 
tem— new  banks  were  incorporated  by  the  state  legis- 

*  The  subject  of  the  balance  of  trade  of  this  country  is  gene- 
rally misunderstood.  The  estimates  of  the  treasury  depart- 
ment of  the  United  States  are  grossly  erroneous.  This  pro- 
ceeds from  the  impossibility  of  having  accurate  returns  from 
the  custom-houses,  of  the  exports  and  imports  of  this  country, 
under  the- present  revenue  laws.  There  are  no  data  from  which 
the  balance  of  trade,  either  for  or  against  this  country,  can  be 
estimated.  The  best  criterion  is  the  course  of  exchange.  This, 
with  England,  has  never  been,  for  six  months  in  succession, 
against  us,  when  the  banks  of  this  country  have  generally  paid 
specie. 

The  trade  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  is,  not  unfrequent- 
ly,  represented  as  beino-  disadvantageous  to  this  country.  This 
is  a  mistake  The  limits  of  the  pjjesent  work  will  not  admit  of 
entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  question.  The  error,  however, 
arises  from  comparing  the  amount  of  imports  from  India,  debited 
against  our  trade,  with  the  amount  of  exports,  consisting  princi- 
pally of  specie,  credited  at  the  custom-house.  Whereas,  a  large 
portion  of  that  which  really  pays  for  cargoes  imported,  is  pro- 
cured with  very  little  cost  to  us.  after  the  vessels  leave  this  coun- 
try :  such  as  furs  from  the  north  west  coast  of  America,  sandal 
wood,  skins,  and  other  South  i^ea  productions,  and,  of  course,  is 
entirely  left  out  of  the  account  in  our  custom-house  estimates. 


12 


latures,  and  large  amounts  of  paper  were  put  in  circu- 
lation, sanctioned  by  their  authority,  and  the  co-opera- 
tive influence  of  wealthy  and  interested  stockholders. 

With  this  state  of  things  existing,  the  United  States 
engaged  in  war.  This  threw  into  circulation  the 
whole  credit  of  the  government.  To  complete  the 
catalogue,  the  monied  institutions  of  our  country  re- 
solved  upon  a  paper  system,  by  which  they  professed 
themselves  unable  to  meet  their  engagements,  and 
virtually  declared  to  the  world  that  they  were  bank- 
rupts. 

During  the  whole  of  this  period,  individual  credit 
was  exerted  to  the  utmost.  A  system  of  implication 
and  endorsement  was  introduced.  The  notes  of  indi- 
viduals were  made  negotiable.  They  frequently 
were  passed  in  payment  in  the  place  of  money. 

The  reasons,  therefore,  of  the  gradual  increase  of 
the  nominal  value  of  things,  from  1790  to  1815,  is 
obvious.  It  was  the  throwing  into  circulation  the 
whole  of  the  wealth  and  credit  of  the  civilized  world. 
In  order  to  show  the  great  change  in  prices  thus  pro- 
duced, the  following  schedule  is  given,  exhibiting  the 
gradual  increase  from  1770  to  1790,  and  the  great  ad- 
vance from  that  time  to  1815.  The  periods  select- 
ed for  this  exhibition  were  times  of  general  peace. 
The  first  period  being  between  the  conclusion  of  the 
old  French  war,  as  it  is  called,  and  the  commencement 
of  the  American  Revolution.  The  second  period  is 
previous  to  the  French  Revolution.  The  third  and 
last  period  is  the  year  1815,  the  first  year  after  the 
world  had  sat  down  in  universal  peace. 


13 


The  following  Schedule  exhibits  the  prices  of  the  arti- 
cles enumerated,  at  the  folloicing  periods. 


Article^ 

its 

0 

1790 

181 

5 

For  making  a  coat,  without  trim- 

mings, 

IP1 

75 

00 

7 

00 

For  making  a  vest,  without  trim- 

mi  nscs, 

0 

56 

u 

1 

75 

For  making  small  clothes  or  pan- 

taloons, 

o 

56 

0 

621 

1 

75 

For  making  coat,  vest,  and  panta- 

loons, 

3 

00 

4 

00 

16 

00 

For  furnishin0"  materials,  and  ma 

king  coat,  vest,  and  pantaloons, 

25 

00 

32 

00 

65 

00 

Fine  shoes, 

o 

80 

1 

00 

3 

00 

Fine  boots, 

3 

00 

4 

00 

9 

00 

Mason's  work,  per  day, 

0 

44 

0 

60 

1 

75 

Carpenter's  work,  per  day, 

0 

40 

0 

56 

1 

50 

Common    labourers,    per  day's 

work, 

0 

25 

0 

37 

1 

00 

Cartman's  cartage,  per  load, 

0 

9 

0 

121 

0 

25 

Good  board,  per  week, 

1 

50 

2 

00" 

6 

00 

Beef,  per  pound, 

0 

3 

0 

4 

0 

121 

Pork,  per  pound, 

0 

3 

0 

4 

0 

10 

Butter,  per  pound, 

0 

6 

0 

9 

0 

30 

Eggs,  per  dozen, 

0 

4 

0 

6 

0 

18 

Labour  per  day,  in  the  country, 

for  mowing  and  getting  in  hay, 

0 

30 

0 

37 

1 

00 

Labour  per  day,  in  harvest, 

0 

37 

0 

50 

1 

25 

Wheat,  per  bushel, 

0 

50 

0 

75 

2 

00 

Rye,  per  bushel, 

0 

37 

0 

50 

1 

25 

Corn,  per  bushel. 

0 

30 

0 

37 

1 

12 

14 


From  this  view  of  the  comparative  prices  of  things, 
it  appears,  that  from  1770  to  1790,  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  the  average  increase  in  the  nominal  value  of 
commodities  was  about  twenty-five  per  cent.,  whilst, 
from  1790  to  1815,  a  lapse  of  twenty-five  years, 
prices  had  considerably  more  than  doubled.  The 
statement  that  is  given  has  been  collected  principally 
from  books  kept  at  the  different  periods  selected. 
Where  they  have  been  insufficient,  recourse  has  been 
had  to  the  recollections  of  those  who  were  then  upon 
the  stage  of  action,  and  who  still  remain  amongst  us. 
It  is  believed  to  be  correct. 

The  reasons  of  the  increase  in  prices,  from  1770  to 
1790,  were  the  revolutionary  war;  the  facilities  that 
national  independence  gave  to  national  intercourse, 
and  the  gradual  increase  of  the  precious  metals  in  this 
country.  The  commerce  of  the  United  States,  at  this 
time,  was  not  so  extensive  as  to  require  the  exporta- 
tion of  gold  and  silver  for  its  support.  During  the 
revolutionary  war,  very  considerable  quantities  of 
specie  were  imported  into  this  country,  to  support  the 
unprofitable  contest  that  the  British  carried  on.  To 
this  cause,  more  than  any  other,  may  be  attributed  the 
increase  of  prices  after  the  revolutionary  war,  over 
those  that  preceded  it.  With  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  reasons  of  the  increase  in  prices,  from  1770 
to  1790,  is  obvious. 

The  causes  that  produced  the  great  nominal  in- 
crease in  the  value  of  things  from  1790  up  to  1815, 
have  been  stated.  So  far  as  they  have  ceased  to  exist, 
there  must  be  a  proportional  reduction  in  the  apparent 
value  of  commodities.    The  national  resources  of 


15 


Europe  are  exhausted,  and  the  credit  of  the  govern- 
ments is  now  unexerted.  In  this  country,  our  bank- 
ing system  is  prostrated,  and  individual  credit  broken 
down.  There  is,  therefore,  no  reason  that  can  be  as- 
signed, why  prices  should  not  be  reduced  to  what  they 
were  previous  to  the  French  Revolution,  unless  it  be 
the  gradual  increase  of  the  precious  metals  both  in 
Europe  and  America.  How  far  this  cause  will  have 
any  influence  deserves  attention. 

The  India  trade,  which  has  been  vigorously  pur- 
sued ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  has  had  a  constant  tendency  to  drain 
us  of  the  specie  which  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  fa- 
vour for  the  greater  part  of  the  last  thirty  years  has 
been  constantly  bringing  into  this  country.  There 
are  no  data  from  which  an  estimate  can  be  made  of  our 
imports  or  exports,  of  the  precious  metals.  It  is,  how- 
ever, believed,  that  the  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  in 
the  United  States  is  not  greater  now,  in  proportion  to 
the  population,  than  it  was  thirty  years  a^o. 

In  Europe,  the  fact  is  nearly  the  same ;  for,  whilst 
the  rapacious  sacrilege  of  the  governments  of  Europe 
has  converted  into  specie  the  gold  and  silver  of  the 
crucifix  and  the  altar,  there  has  been  a  constant  current 
of  the  precious  metals  setting  from  Europe  and  Ame- 
rica toward  the  ^aj^  to  adorn  the  sanctuaries  of  the 
gods  of  Chinese  idolatry. 

Gold  and  silver  are  the  standards  by  which  the 
value  of  all  other  commodities  is  estimated.  They 
do  not  possess  within  themselves  any  intrinsic  value, 
Human  labour,  and  the  productions  of  its  industry, 
are  the  only  criteria  by  which  the  real  value  of  any 


J6 


thing  can  be  estimated.  Still,  however,  as  specie,  by 
universal  consent,  fixes  the  nominal  value  of  things, 
their  prices  must  be  greater  or  less,  in  proportion  to 
the  quantity  of  precious  metals  in  circulation. 

The  revolution  in  South  America  is  the  only  cause 
that  will  prevent  both  Europe  and  America  from  being 
placed  in  the  same  condition,  with  respect  to  the  nomi- 
nal value  of  things,  that  they  were  in  1790.  How  far 
this  event  will  produce  any  alteration,  deserves  some 
attention. 

The  mines  of  South  America  have,  ever  since  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World,  been  pouring  forth  their 
treasures  to  administer  only  to  the  sordid  and  narrow 
views  of  their  Spanish  masters.  We  have  hitherto 
been  cut  of!  from  the  trade  of  the  richest  and  fairest 
portion  of  the  globe.  The  events  which  have  taken 
place,  and  that  are  still  unfolding  themselves,  have 
opened  South  America  to  the  world.  Her  gold  and 
silver  are  enriching  every  nation.  Some  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the  increase  of  the  precious  metals 
for  the  last  thirty  years.  This,  probably,  should  not 
exceed  ten  per  cent.  Adding  this,  therefore,  to  the 
prices  of  1790,  the  true  value  of  things,  at  the  present 
time,  may  be  estimated.* 

The  immense  wealth  that  has been  thrown  into 
circulation  during  the  series  of  fitfcfs  that  have  taken 


*  South  America  will,  in  all  probability,  rival  the  United  States 
in  many  raw  materials.  This,  however,  will  have  no  immediate 
influence.  The  effect  of  the  increase  of  the  precious  metals  will 
always  be  the  same.  If  South  America  should  become  our  rival 
in  raw  materials,  such  an  event  would  only  change  the  course  of 
trade. 


17 


place  at  and  since  the  close  of  the  last  century,  cannot 
be  expected  to  cease  immediately  in  its  operation. 
This  the  experience  of  the  last  four  years  has  shown 
to  be  the  fact. 

The  consequences  of  this  retrograde  order  of  things 
have  been  truly  deplorable.  It  has  involved  thousands 
in  bankruptcy  and  ruin,  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
It  has  beggared  the  active  and  industrious,  and  swept 
away,  with  an  irresistible  force,  the  fancied  wealth  of 
many  years.  Its  effects  have  not  been  confined  to  in- 
dividuals only — Governments  have  experienced  them. 
England,  at  this  moment,  is  rocking  to  her  centre  from 
this  very  cause. 

In  taking  a  more  immediate  view  of  the  period  that 
has  elapsed  since  the  peace,  and  of  the  business  that 
has  been  transacted  since  that  time,  the  education  and 
situation  of  the  active  business  class  of  the  community 
requires  the  first  attention.  Nearly  a  whole  genera- 
tion passed  off  the  stage  of  action  during  the  eventful 
wars  in  Europe.  Those  who  embarked  in  business 
in  1815  had  been  educated  under  a  different  state  of 
the  world  than  the  one  then  before  them.  They  were 
illy  calculated  to  reason  upon  what  would  be  the  re- 
gulai  course  of  business,  at  a  jime  of  universal  peace, 
and,  without  reflection,  they  plunged  themselves  into 
the  same  round  of  extensive  mercantile  operations  to 
which  they  had  previously  been  accustomed.  The 
high  prices  that  the  productions  of  the  United  States 
commanded,  the  first  two  years  after  the  peace,  fos- 
tered this  procedure.  But  the  nations  of  Europe  re- 
quired only  time  to  begin  to  revive  their  wasted  agri- 

3 


1  u 

culture,  and  other  peaceful  pursuits,  to  show  the 
fallacy  of  these  expectations. 

There  have  been,  since  the  year  1815,  two  great 
periods  of  mercantile  pressure,  and  commercial  fail- 
ures. The  first  occurred  in  the  winter  of  1816  and 
17,  and  the  following  spring.  The  other  took  place 
in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1819.  The  cause  that 
produced  these  failures  was  the  same — that  of  over 
trading.  The  class  of  merchants  that  were  affected 
by  it,  at  the  different  periods,  were  in  a  great  measure 
distinct.  The  failures  of  1^17  were  principally 
among  the  importers  and  dealers  in  foreign  merchan- 
dise. Those  of  1819  affected  the  shipping  merchant, 
and  the  dealer  in  the  productions  of  our  soil.  The 
reasons  of  this  are  obvious. 

The  banks  of  New- York,  together  with  those  south 
and  wTest  of  them,  suspended  specie  payments  in  the 
summer  of  1814,  without  fixing  upon  any  period  when 
they  would  resume  them.  The  temporary  excitement 
that  this  measure  produced,  was  soon  lulled  to  rest  by 
their  liberal  discounts,  and  the  commanding  influence 
which  the  directors  and  stockholders  of  these  monied 
aristocracies  possessed.  The  then  situation  of  the 
country  might  have  required  a  temporary  suspension 
of  specie  payment  by  the  banks,  but  there  can  be  no 
reason  assigned,  either  of  principle  or  policy,  why  the 
directors  of  these  institutions  did  not,  professing  them- 
selves solvent,  fix  upon  some  time  when  they  would 
redeem  their  notes,  and  direct  their  whole  attention 
toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  desirable  object. 
So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  they  continued  to  dis- 
count liberally.    At  this  time,  there  was  no  regular 


19 


business  doing.  The  only  use  to  which  money  could 
be  applied,  was  either  to  wild  and  mad  speculation,  or 
the  carrying  on  an  illicit  trade  with  an  open  enemy. 
The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  too  fresh  in  the  recollec- 
tion of  every  one  to  require  a  repetition  of  it ;  and  ge- 
nerally, the  banks  that  suspended  payment,  never  made 
better  dividends  than  they  did  during  that  period — the 
first,  and  it  is  hoped  the  last  instance,  that  will  ever 
occur  in  this  country,  of  any  association  of  men  pub- 
licly declaring  to  the  world  that  they  are  growing  rich, 
and  refuse  to  fulfil,  on  demand,  their  honest  engage- 
ments. 

There  never  was  a  time  when  merchants  stood  less 
in  need  of  bank  accommodations,  than  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  peace.  They  had  collected  in  all 
their  funds.  Their  capitals  were  laying  idle.  Had 
the  banks  shut  their  discount  books  at  that  time,  spe- 
cie would  have  fallen  to  par — exchange  would  not 
have  been  against  this  country — merchants  would  not 
have  done  business  to  ten,  and  even  twenty  times  the 
amount  of  their  capitals,  and  the  long  catalogue  of 
distress  and  ruin  that  has  followed  would  not  have 
had  an  existence. 

The  restrictive  system  thaMvas  pursued  by  the  go- 
vernment, for  some  time  previous,  and  during  the  late 
war,  cleared  our  market  of  almost  the  whole  of  the 
productions  of  the  art  and  industry  of  other  countries. 
At  the  return  of  peace,  the  stores  were  empty,  and  the 
warehouses  of  the  importers  drained  of  their  contents. 
The  situation  of  the  interior  of  the  country  was  the 
same.  The  remnants  and  rubbish  of  the  shops  had 
been  converted  into  elegant  dresses.    The  wardrobes 


20 


of  every  one  were  exhausted.    The  return  of  peace 
opened  the  United  States  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world.    The  manufactories  of  Europe  and  Asia  were 
poured  in  upon  us.      A  mercantile  mania  spread 
through  the  country.    Thousands,  unacquainted  with 
business,  embarked  in  it.     The  facilities  of  pro- 
curing discounts  at  the  banks  made  every  body  rich. 
This  induced  the  importers  to  give  larger  orders  for 
goods  than  they  otherwise  would.    The  same  cause 
induced  the  venders  of  goods  to  country  traders  to  be 
profuse  in  their  credits.    The  business  of  J  815  was 
one  great  struggle,  who  should  get  the  most  goods,  and 
dispose  of  them  the  quickest.    When  the  business  of 
this  year  had  closed,  merchants  were  frequently  in- 
quiring for  the  residence  and  character  of  those  whom 
they  had  trusted.    In  footing  up  the  profits  of  this 
year's  business  on  paper,  many  had  even  more  than 
doubled  their  capitals.    Forty,  sixty,  and  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  were  set  down  as  the  profits  of  one 
year's  regular  business. 

The  first  decline  in  the  price  of  goods,  after  the 
peace,  was  in  December,  1815.  This  had  considera- 
ble influence  in  damping  the  feelings  of  many  of  the 
importers  who  had  large  stocks  of  goods  on  hand. 
There  was  a  peculiar  fatality  accompanying  the  Euro- 
pean fall  ships  of  this  year.  Many  of  the  principal 
ones,  laden  with  full  cargoes,  had  passages  of  from 
sixty  to  ninety  days.  The  consequence  was,  that 
shipments  that  should  have  reached  here  in  the  fore 
part  of  October,  did  not  arrive  until  the  last  of  No- 
vember, too  late  for  the  business  of  that  season.  Du- 
ring the  winter  of  1815  and  16,  debts  to  a  large 


21 

amount  became  due.  The  bonds  given  by  the  im- 
porters, for  the  goods  imported  in  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer of  1815,  were  to  be  paid.  The  notes  given  by  the 
jobbers*  to  the  importers  likewise  became  payable. 
The  importers  had  realized  the  avails  of  these  notes, 
through  the  medium  of  the  banks,  long  before  they 
became  due,  and  vested  the  money  thus  procured  in 
funds  to  remit  abroad.  The  jobbers  had  trusted  the 
whole  of  their  capital  and  credit  from  one  end  of  the 
Union  to  the  other.  Both  the  importers  and  jobbers 
had  to  rely  upon  the  banks  for  assistance.  This  pro- 
duced a  great  demand  for  money.  The  price  of  goods 
was  reduced  still  lower,  and  sacrifices  were  made  at 
auction  to  gain  relief. 

At  the  opening  of  the  spring,  business  did  not  re- 
vive as  fast  as  was  anticipated.  Money  was  scarce. 
The  country  merchants  made  only  partial  payments — 
they  had  trusted  out  their  stocks,  and  wanted  a  new 
supply  :  those  whose  credit  would  permit,  made  new 
purchases.  The  debts,  both  of  the  inland  and  foreign 
merchants,  were  increased.  The  demand  for  goods 
for  the  southern  market  was  even  increased  toward 
the  close  of  this  year  over  that  of  the  preceding  one. 

The  low  price  of  merchandiser  compared  with  what 
it  had  been,  induced  many  to  make  large  purchases. 
It  was  believed  that  the  market  had  reached  its  lowest 
ebb.  The  quantity  of  goods  sold  at  auction  increased, 
and  package  sales  took  place. 

The  exhausted  situation  of  Europe,  after  the  re- 
turn of  general  peace,  gave  the  American  market  a 

*  A  term  applied  to  the  vendors  of  dry  goods  to  country 
traders. 


22 


decided  preference  over  every  other.  The  large 
manufacturers  of  England  wished  to  participate  in 
this  advantage.  They  sent  hither  a  swarm  of  agents, 
accompanied  with  a  flood  of  their  fabrics.  This 
inundated  our  market,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year 
18:6,  the  United  States  were  overwhelmed  with  an 
excess  of  foreign  commodities,  partly  on  the  account 
of  our  own  citizens,  and  partly  on  account  of  foreign 
speculators. 

In  almost,  all  instances,  up  to  the  termination  of 
the  year  18)6,  the  avails  of  goods  sold  on  a  credit 
were  anticipated  by  the  importers,  from  ninety  days 
to  four  months,  through  the  medium  of  the  banks. 
This,  together  with  their  custom-house  bonds,  gave 
them  the  double  advantage  of  their  credit.  The 
means  thus  procured  were  constantly  used  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  business,  the  evils  of  which 
have  since  more  than  balanced  the  temporary  gains. 

From  the  peace  up  to  the  commencement  of  the 
year  1817,  the  debts  of  the  merchants  were  gradually 
increased,  and  the  demand  for  bank  discounts  con- 
stantly augmented.  The  national  bank,  going  into 
operation  at  this  period,  coerced  the  state  banks  to 
make  arrangements  to  pay  specie.  This  could  only 
be  done  by  lessening  their  discounts.  The  effect  of 
such  a  measure  can  be  easily  anticipated.  At  the 
moment  the  merchants  were  the  most  in  want  of 
money,  the  banks  were  compelled  to  do  what  they 
might  and  should  have  done  in  1815 — resume  their 
payments.  The  remark  is  again  repeated,  that  no 
reason  can  be  assigned  why  the  banks  did  not  draw 
in  their  paper  immediately  after  the  peace,  so  as  to 


23 


enable  them  to  pay  specie  for  their  notes,  unless  it  be 
the  dishonest  intentions  of  the  directors  to  make  mo- 
ney at  the  expense  of  the  community.  The  high 
nominal  price  that  specie  then  bore  did  not  arise  from 
its  unusual  scarcity.  It  proceeded  from  the  depre- 
ciated value  of  bank  notes.  The  establishment  of 
the  United  States  Bank  (however  bad  it  may  have 
been  conducted)  has  been  of  great  advantage,  merely 
because  it  laid  the  foundation  for  the  more  correct  di- 
rection of  the  whole  paper  system. 

From  this,  it  appears  that  at  the  commencement  of 
the  year  1817,  the  merchants  owed  more  money  than 
at  any  previous  period  since  the  peace— that  the  banks 
had  gradually  increased  the  amount  of  their  discounts, 
and  that  at  the  very  moment  the  merchants  required 
the  most  assistance,  the  banks  were  compelled  to  draw 
in  their  paper.  This  produced  a  pressure  for  money 
without  a  parallel  in  this  country. 

The  consequences  were  truly  deplorable :  the  fan- 
cied wealth  of  the  merchants  vanished  in  an  instant. 
It  was  nothing  but  a  continued  series  of  devising 
means  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  day — of  running  through 
the  streets  to  borrow  money — of  petitioning  the^banks 
for  assistance — of  bowing,  and  cringing,  and  fa'wniu^ 
around  the  directors,  hoping  to  be  taken  into  favour 
by  these  then  lords  of  paper  rags.  Some  were  suc- 
cessful, and  others  were  not.  Those  who  had  the 
most  friends  in  the  banks  received  the  most  money. 
Capital  had  but  little  influence  ;  patronage  was  the 
order  of  the  day.  It  is  a  mistaken  idea  that  banks 
facilitate  mercantile  operations.  They  present  allure- 
ments to  many,  and  give  assistance  to  only  a  few. 


24 


The  auctions  were  crowded  with  goods.  Prices  were 
reduced.  Immense  sacrifices  were  made.  What  cost 
one  pound  sterling  brought  no  more  currency.  Some- 
times goods  did  not  bring  enough  to  pay  the  duties 
upon  them.  The  spirit  and  independence  of  the 
merchants  were  broken.  They  presented  the  gloomy 
spectacle  of  a  defeated  army,  flying  at  every  point,  and 
using  no  combined  effort  to  ward  off  the  blow  that 
was  falling  upon  every  one  of  them. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  National  Legis- 
lature did  not  pass  a  general  bankrupt  law,  when  they 
incorporated  the  United  States  Bank.  Such  a  law,  by 
making  an  equal  distribution  of  the  bankrupt's  estate 
amongst  all  his  creditors,  would,  at  that  time,  have 
had  the  most  happy  effect.  It  would  have  destroyed 
the  whole  system  of  confidential  creditors.  It  would 
have  checked  the  long  catalogue  of  implication  and 
endorsement.  It  would  have  prevented  the  banks 
from  obtaining  more  than  their  proportion  of  insolvent 
estates.  It  would  have  prevented  the  ruin  of  thou- 
sands. Instances  would  then  not  have  occurred  of 
whole  estates  going  to  pay  friends — Friends,  who 
only  became  so  because  they  knew  that  their  debts 
would  be  paid  at  all  events.  Such  a  law  would  put 
a  stop  to  over  trading,  and  relieve  us  from  the  effects  of 
mad  speculation.  It  is  the  want  of  practical  mer- 
cantile knowledge  in  the  National  Legislature  that 
has  prevented  such  a  law  from  being  enacted  long  ere 
the  present  time. 

The  business  of  selling  goods  by  auction  has  held 
a  conspicuous  place  in  the  trade  of  New-York  since 
the  peace.  This  manner  of  vending  property,  although 


25 


long  practised,  never  excited  any  particular  attention 
until  the  last  three  or  four  years.  Previous  to  that, 
auctions  were  limited  in  their  operations.  They  had  had 
but  little  influence  upon  the  community.  They  were 
thought  to  be  an  advantage  both  for  the  purchase  and 
sale  of  goods  to  the  extent  to  which  they  were  then 
used.  The  embarrassments  of  1816-17,  compelled 
the  holders  of  merchandise  to  effect  sales.  This 
threw,  at  one  time,  into  the  hands  of  the  auctioneers, 
almost  the  whole  trade  of  the  city.  What  accident 
thus  gave  them,  they  have  been  able  to  retain.  They 
now  possess  the  monopoly  of  a  large  part  of  the  trade 
of  New-York.  The  foreign  merchant  and  manufac- 
turer, through  them,  has  taken  the  trade  of  the  city 
out  of  our  own  hands.  The  American  merchant,  de- 
prived of  his  business,  is  now  left  to  provide  for  his 
family,  to  contribute  towards  the  support  of  govern- 
ment, and  to  perform  civil  and  military  duties.  Fo- 
reign agents  have  supplanted  him.  Those  who  have 
little  or  no  interest  in  this  country  are  made  rich  at 
the  expense  of  ourselves.  The  foreign  manufacturers 
have  sent  hither  their  agents.  They  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  young  men.  They  pay  little  or  no  taxes,  and 
perform  none  of  the  duties  of  citizens.  To  them,  con- 
signments are  made.  These,  when  received,  go  di- 
rectly into  the  hands  of  the  auctioneers,  w7ho,  not  un- 
frequently,  bond  them  at  the  custom  house.  They 
are  immediately  sold,  and  their  avails  remitted,  forth- 
with, out  of  the  country.  The  manufacturers  of  Bir- 
minham  and  Manchester,  in  England,  have  become  the 
traders  of  New- York.    It  requires  not  more  than  four 

4 


26 

months  from  the  time  goods  are  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  workmen,  for  them  to  be  sent  to  this  country,  sold, 
and  the  avails  returned  to  England.  The  credit  given 
at  the  custom  house,  is  added  to  the  profits  on  foreign 
capital,  and  both  transported  to  enrich  Great  Britain. 

The  expenses  of  the  American  merchant,  who  im- 
ports and  vends  in  one  year  50,000  dollars  of  mer- 
chandize, at  a  moderate  computation,  will  amount  to 
2,500  dollars  He  is  likewise  assessed  and  taxed  for 
the  full  amount  of  his  property.  The  foreign  mer- 
chant, with  the  same  expense,  (the  auction  duty  and 
commission,)  and  without  performing  any  of  the  of- 
fices of  a  citizen,  can  send  hither  and  vend  160,000 
dollars'  worth  of  goods  in  the  same  time,  through  the 
medium  of  the  auctions.  This  gives  the  foreign  mer- 
chant three  times  the  advantage  over  the  American 
trader.  This  system  takes  immediately  out  of  the 
country  the  profits  of  its  own  business.  On  principles 
of  political  economy  no  system  of  trade  was  ever  more 
absurd,  and  yet  the  wisdom  of  the  state  legislature  has 
thought  proper  to  protect  it,  and  the  council  of  ap- 
pointment gravely  select  thirty-six  persons  from  the 
whole  population  of  New-York,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
enrich  themselves  and  make  the  city  poor.  It  gives  a 
monopoly  of  trade  into  the  hands  of  a  few.  It  is  a 
system  alike  ruinous,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust. 

It  is  true,  that  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the 
business  of  the  auctioneers,  since  the  peace,  has  been 
on  American  account.  This  has  arisen  from  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  times;  but  as  the  system  is  settling 
down,  fixed  and  regular,  this  view  of  the  subject  is 
given,  in  order  to  show  its  future  effects. 


27 


It  was  intended  to  exhibit,  in  one  view,  the  amount 
of  goods  sold  at  auction,  and  the  amount  of  imports 
into  New-York,  for  each  year,  from  1802  up  to  1820, 
in  order  to  show  the  gradual  increase  of  auction  sales 
over  other  business.  The  difficulty  of  procuring  the 
necessary  documents  has  prevented  this  exhibition. 

Another  great  evil  arising  from  auctions,  is  the  ex- 
tensive system  of  implication  and  endorsement  that  it 
has  created.  In  all  public  sales,  where  a  credit  is 
given,  an  endorser  is  required,  and  sometimes  two,  or 
more.  In  this  way  the  whole  of  the  commercial 
community  has  become  linked  in,  one  with  another. 
The  failure  of  one  house  almost  always  produces  that 
of  another,  and  the  practice  of  preferring  one  creditor 
before  another — of  confidential  and  ordinary  debts — 
proves  conclusively  the  necessity  of  a  reform.  To 
this  must  be  added,  the  deceptions  that  are  practised 
in  the  measurement,  description,  and  quality,  of  goods 
vended  at  auction.  The  waste  of  time  that  this  mode 
of  doing  business  produces  is  a  serious  objection. 
Every  retail  dry-good  store  in  the  city,  requires  the 
addition  of  one  more  person  to  attend  it,  merely  be- 
cause it  occupies  the  whole  time  of  one  person  to 
attend  auctions,  and  this  too  when  the  whole  amount 
of  purchases,  for  a  year,  will  not  exceed  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars.  In  public  sales  there  is  no  personal 
character  at  stake.  The  auctioneer  takes  no  respon- 
sibility upon  himself — the  owners  and  manufacturers 
are  unknown.  Where  this  is  the  case,  deceptions 
will  be  practised.  It  is  curious  to  observe  the  guarded 
language  that  is  used  by  auctioneers  in  announcing 
the  conditions  of  sales,  and  the  little  chance  given  to 


28 


many  to  have  justice  done  them,  provided  the  articles 
purchased  shouid  not  correspond  with  what  they  ap- 
peared to  be.* 

The  pressure  for  money  that  occurred  in  the  winter 
of  1316  an  J  17  made  it  necess  iry  to  urge  the  country 
merchants  to  make  immediate  payments  ;  they  unfor- 
tunately had  gone  beyond  their  capitals,  and  involved 
themselves  in  ruin.    Pre  vious  to  the  late  war,  coun- 
try dealers  generally  purchased  goods  upon  a  credit 
of  six  months  of  the  city  merchants.    The  conditions 
of  which,  however,  were  generally  understood  to  be 
that  the  country  trader  should  pay  from  time  to  time 
as  he  should  be  enabled  ;  only  allowing  interest  on 
what  might  be  due  longer  than  six  months  ;  he  was 
however  considered  liable  for  the  whole  debt  at  the 
expiration  of  the  fixed  time  of  credit,  if  demanded  in 
this  way ;  a  running  account  was  opened,  as  it  is 
called,  by  the  city  trader  with  his  country  customers. 
These  accounts  frequently  ran  on  for  years  without  the 
balance  due  ever  being  completely  paid.    After  the 
close  of  the  war  business  was  recommenced  upon  the 
same  principle.    It  probably  would  have  followed  on 
in  its  accustomed  track,  had  business  at  once  became 
fixed  and  regular.    The  country  trader  made  his  pur- 
chases immediately  after  the  peace,  upon  the  same  cal- 

*  The  haughty,  overbearing,  and  ungentlemanly  deportment, 
in  transacting  business,  of  some  of  the  auctioneers,  arising  from 
the  power  and  wealth  which  this  monopoly  of  business  has  given 
them,  deserves  animadversion  and  contempt.  The  mercantile 
power  in  their  hands  is  immense.  Six  of  those  engaged  in 
auction  business  are  bank  directors.  The  credit  of  a  large  par 
of  the  community  is  raised  or  depressed  at  their  noc* 


29 


eulations  that  he  had  previously  been  accustomed  to. 
In  dealing  them  out  to  the  consumer,  he  charged  them, 
under  the  expectation  of  waiting  for  his  money  a  con- 
siderable len^h  of  time.    He  did  not  expect  that  at 
the  moment  his  debts  fell  due  in  the  city,  immediate 
payment  would  be  demanded.    The  pressure  for  mo- 
ney in  New-York  in  1816  an  i  17,  compelled  the  city 
merchants  to  require  immediate  payment  of  their  coun- 
try customers.    This  drained  the  country  of  its  mo- 
ney.   Still  there  was  a  large  balance  due,  and  the 
pressing  demands  of  the  city  called  to  its  aid  the  as- 
sistance of  law  to  compel  payment.    Those  who  had 
embarked  in  business  with  little  capital  were  unable 
to  meet  such  a  course  of  things  ;  and  bankruptcy  fol- 
lowed as  a  natural  consequence. 

Another  cause  that  has  had  great  influence  in 
producing  bankruptcies  in  the  country,  is  the  large 
amount  of  mercantile  capital  vested  in  real  estate,  im- 
mediately after  the  peace.  The  country  traders  at 
that  time  found  their  stores  and  dwellings  illy  calcula- 
ted for  the  brilliant  imaginary  prospects  then  before 
them.  In  villages,  building  lots  rose  to  three  or  four 
times  their  present  value.  Large  and  elegant  houses 
and  stores  were  erected  at  an-  enormous  expense. 
This  was  done  by  the  assistance  of  the  mercantile 
credit  which  the  merchants  of  New-York  had  so  la- 
vishingly  given. 

The  depreciation  in  the  value  of  goods  did  not  im- 
mediately extend  to  the  country  in  its  effects.  In 
deed,  this  only  compelled  the  inland  traders  to  do  bu- 
siness at  a  less  profit.    The  reasons,  therefore,  of 
failures  in  the  country,  have  been  very  different  from 


so 


those  that  produced  the  failures  in  the  city.  They 
proceeded  from  the  unusual  demand  for  prompt  pay, 
and  the  misapplication  of  the  mercantile  capital  and 
credit  of  the  interior.  There  were  likewise  nume- 
rous failures  arising  from  many  persons  embarking 
in  business  without  possessing  either  capital  or  know- 
ledge. From  these  causes  the  bad  debts  in  the  coun- 
try have  arisen. 

From  the  spring  of  1817  up  to  the  year  1819,  bu- 
siness assumed  somewhat  of  a  regular  course.  The 
importers  and  jobbers  who  sustained  their  credit 
through  the  winter  of  1817,  directed  their  whole  at- 
tention toward  the  collection  of  their  outstanding 
debts  ;  they  wished  to  bring  together  the  shattered 
remains  of  their  previous  business.  This  would  ena- 
ble them  to  estimate  the  amount  of  damage  they  had 
sustained  in  the  mercantile  tempest  which  they  had 
encountered.  The  mode  of  doing  business  was  very 
materially  changed.  The  difference  between  sales 
for  cash  and  credit  was  increased.  Many  who  were 
in  the  habit  of  doing  business  upon  a  credit,  relin- 
quished it  entirely  ;  a  closeness  of  calculation  was 
introduced  in  transacting  business  hitherto  unknown. 
This  is  always  commendable  ;  it  evinces  prudence. 
The  southern  market  continued  good,  and  the  pro- 
ductions of  our  country  commanded  a  price  nearly 
equal  to  what  they  formerly  had  done. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  the  mercantile  community 
from  the  spring  of  1 8  i  7  up  to  the  commencement  of 
the  year  1819,  when  a  new  series  of  commercial  em- 
barrassments occurred.  These  affected  principally 
the  shipper  and  the  dealer  in  the  productions  of  our 


31 


country,  and  swept  away  a  large  part  of  the  remain- 
ing capital  of  the  United  States,  and  prostrated  many 
of  the  banks  in  the  country.  The  causes  that  pro- 
duced these  failures  were  in  many  respects  different 
from  those  that  gave  rise  to  those  of  1817;  in  their 
effects  they  were  much  more  injurious.  Those  of 
1817  proceeded  from  the  fall  in  the  prices  of  foreign 
commodities,  whilst  the  failures  of  1819  arose  from 
the  depreciation  in  the  value  of  the  staple  productions 
of  the  United  States.  The  one  was  limi  ed  in  its  ef- 
fects to  the  merchant  only  ;  the  other  extended  to  the 
whole  community — changing  the  value  of  land,  and 
the  industry  of  the  country. 

The  merchants  of  the  south  have  since  the  peace 
made  New- York  their  principal  resort  for  the  purchase 
of  goods  ;  these  purchases  are  generally  made  during 
the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September,  upon  a 
credit.  To  provide  for  the  payment  of  debts  thus  con- 
tracted, drafts  are  given  upon  the  commission  houses 
in  New-York  who  transact  southern  business  ;  where 
this  is  not  done,  notes  are  given  payable  at  some  fu- 
ture time.  The  commission  merchants  have  gene- 
rally accepted  for  their  southern  friends,  without  ha- 
ving any  property  on  hand  from- which  money  might 
be  realized  to  meet  their  engagements  ;  they  relied 
upon  the  produce  which  was  to  be  sent  them  to  sell 
upon  commissions  for  the  necessary  funds  ;  the  uni- 
form credit  of  the  southern  merchants  justified  this 
course  ;  they  regularly  met  their  engagements,  and 
these  transactions  were  honourable  to  all  concerned. 
The  southern  traders  make  their  collections  for  the 
goods  which  they  have  sold  during  the  year  to  the 


32 


planters  at  the  coming  in  of  the  crops.  The  crops  of 
the  planters  are  usually  contracted  for  by  the  mer- 
chants long  before  they  come  to  maturity  ;  the  price 
being  predicated  upon  a  calculation  of  what  their 
value  would  be. 

It  has  been  the  practice  of  the  large  shipping  mer- 
chants to  send  annually  to  the  south  agents  to  pur- 
chase cotton  and  other  staple  commodities  for  export- 
ation. These  agents  were  provided  with  letters  of 
credit  and  instructions  to  draw  drafts  on  their  em- 
ployers to  a  certain  amount ;  these  drafts  were  drawn 
payable  from  sixty  days  to  four  months  after  sight. 
Until  the  last  year  few  of  them  were  dishonoured,  they 
were  purchased  with  avidity  by  the  southern  inland  mer- 
chants, who  wished  to  make  remittances  to  the  north. 
The  agent  immediately  vested  the  proceeds  of  drafts 
thus  drawn  in  cotton,  and  shipped  it  immediately  to 
Europe.  The  moment  that  the  shipper  received  in- 
formation of  the  shipment,  he  immediately  anticipa- 
ted its  arrival  abroad,  and  drew  forthwith  upon  his 
commission  merchant  abroad  for  a  large  part  of  the 
value  of  the  cargo;  this  new  draft  was  sold  to  the 
importers  for  cash,  and  the  avails  remitted  to  the 
south  to  make  new  purchases  ;  and  a  new  cargo  was 
purchased  partly  for  cash  and  partly  by  new  drafts  ; 
the  drafts  sent  on  to  New- York  from  the  south,  drawn 
by  the  agents  as  has  been  stated,  were  most  generally 
discounted  at  the  banks  for  the  benefit  of  the  holders. 
In  this  way  an  extensive  and  complicated  business  was 
carried  on  with  moderate  capitals,  and  which  might 
very  easily  be  continued  so  long  as  the  market  re- 
mained regular. 


33 


Another  method  by  which  the  means  to  carry 
on  the  cotton  trade  were  procured  was  through  the 
assistance  of  the  banks.  This  was  done  by  bar- 
gaining with  the  directors.  It  was  as  follows  :  appli- 
cation was  made  to  the  directors  for  a  discount  to  a 
large  amount  for  six  months,  offering  to  give  such  se- 
curity as  the  bank  might  require,  and  to  receive  the 
post  notes  of  the  bank,  made  payable  in  ninety  days, 
although  interest  wTas  to  be  charged  for  the  whole 
time.  The  directors  agreed  to  make  the  required 
loan  upon  the  applicants  paying  the  six  months  inte- 
rest in  advance,  and  engaging  to  remit  the  ninety 
days  paper  of  the  bank  to  the  south,  and  put  it  in 
circulation.  In  this  way  the  banks  actually  loaned 
money  upon  an  usurious  contract,  and  in  fact  re- 
ceived interest  at  the  rate  of  more  than  one  percent,  a 
month.  How  far  the  directors  of  banks  incorporated 
by  law  can  reconcile  this  procedure  to  good  faith,  and 
a  proper  discharge  of  the  public  trust  committed  to 
them,  is  not  in  the  province  of  the  writer  to  deter- 
mine. It  is  his  duty  to  investigate  its  effects.  It 
must  likewise  be  observed,  that  whilst  these  loans 
were  privately  made,  the  banks  professed  to  make  no 
discounts  for  a  longer  perio<l  ^than  sixty  or  ninety 
days.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  in  all  cases 
where  banks  have  been  incorporated,  the  state  has 
not  reserved  to  itself  the  right  of  appointing  a  part  of 
the  directors,  who  should  be  obligated  not  to  own  or 
have  any  interest,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  any 
bank  stock  during  the  time  they  were  in  office.  The 
directors  should  likewise  be  made  responsible  in  their 

a 


34 

private  property  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  pub- 
lic trust  given  them.* 

The  incorporated  companies  of  this  country  are  to 
a  great  extent  mere  associations  of  men  for  private 
speculation,  protected  by  the  operation  of  law.  How 
many  instances  are  there  of  these  legalized  cheats  be- 
coming bankrupts  to  an  enormous  amount,  and  yet 
every  stockholder  worth  a  fortune !  !  Lord  Coke 
says,  that  corporate  bodies  have  no  souls. 

So  long  as  business  continues  regular,  or  is  im- 
proving, fictitious  capital  flows  smoothly  on.  This 
was  the  case  with  the  cotton  trade  of  the  United 
States,  from  the  peace  up  to  December,  1318,  when 
the  sudden  change  of  the  value  of  cotton,  and  almost 
the  whole  of  the  raw  materials  of  this  country,  broke 
the  spell.  From  December,  1818,  to  April,  1819,  the 
productions  of  the  United  States  fell  in  Liverpool, 
upon  an  average,  one  third  in  their  price.  Cotton 
fell  much  more.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this  loss  was 
sustained  by  the  merchants  of  this  country. 

The  causes,  therefore,  of  the  failures  of  1819,  are 
obvious.  They  followed  from  the  course  of  manage- 
ment pursued  by  the  shippers  and  banks  for  the  four 
years  previous.  They  were  the  result  of  doing  busi- 
ness to  a  vast  amount  upon  a  fictitious  capital.  For 

*  The  writer  does  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  charging  the 
directors  of  the  banks  with  direct  mal-intentions  in  these  trans- 
actions. He  would  rather  attribute  them  to  ignorance,  or  the 
want  of  sufficient  reflection  in  discharging  the  duties  that  de- 
volved upon  them  when  they  became  directors  of  these  public 
institutions , 


35 


the  purposes  of  illustration,  the  following  case  is 
stated :  A  merchant,  with  a  loan  of  25,000  dollars, 
for  six  months,  from  the  banks,  and  procured  in  the  bar- 
gaining manner  that  has  been  stated,  sent  his  agent  to 
Georgia,  to  purchase  and  ship  four  cargoes  of  cotton 
to  Liverpool.  This  agent  was  furnished  with  letters 
of  credit,  and  directions  to  draw  drafts  payable  at 
ninety  days  after  sight,  upon  the  principal.  When 
the  agent  reached  Savannah,  he  immediately  purcha- 
sed one  cargo  that  cost  25,000  dollars,  for  which  he 
paid  12,000  dollars  in  the  post  notes  of  the  banks  of 
New- York,  and  for  the  other  half  he  drew  on  his 
principal,  at  ninety  days.  The  moment  the  shipment 
was  made,  he  forwarded  to  the  merchant  in  New-York 
the  bill  of  lading  of  the  cargo.  This  bill  was  re- 
ceived four  days  after  the  draft  was  accepted.  The 
merchant  immediately  drew  upon  his  commission 
merchant  in  Liverpool  for  one  half  of  the  cost  of  the 
cargo,  and  disposed  of  this  draft  to  an  importer,  for 
cash,  and  remitted  the  amount  immediately  to  his 
agent  at  the  south.  The  agent,  in  the  mean  t\meP 
purchased  a  second  cargo  equal  to  the  first,  with  the 
remaining  half  of  the  first  25,000  dollars,  and  by  the 
assistance  of  new  drafts  on  his^employer.  He  again 
forwarded  the  bills  of  lading  as  before.  The  princi- 
pal again  anticipated,  and  drew  new  drafts  on  Eng- 
land, which  were  disposed  of  for  cash.  The  avails  of 
these  drafts  were  immediately  forwarded  to  the  agent, 
and  vested  in  new  cargoes.  In  this  way,  in  six  weeks 
from  the  commencement  of  the  operation,  four  car- 
goes, amounting  to  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


36 


were  purehased  and  shipped  to  Liverpool,  and  the 
owner  constantly  in  funds  to  meet  his  engagements. 
The  bills  of  lading  of  these  cargoes  were  uniformly 
sent  to  England  by  the  same  vessels  that  the  drafts 
were  sent  in.  The  commission  merchant  in  Liver- 
pool in  this  way  received  information  of  the  shipments 
made  to  him,  and  in  case  of  the  non-arrival  of  the 
cargoes  thus  consigned,  he  was  instructed  to  effect  in- 
surance for  his  own  security. 

The  history  here  given  of  one  transaction,  is  simi- 
lar to  many  others  that  have  occurred  since  the  peace. 
They  were  transactions  bottomed  upon  no  capital,  and 
it  required  only  a  change  in  the  market  against  the 
speculator,  to  produce  an  explosion.  This  did  occur 
in  the  winter  of  1819,  and  its  effects  have  been  la- 
mentable. The  value  of  American  produce  fell,  last 
winter,  one  third.  It  was  then  owned  by  the  mer- 
chants of  this  country.  They  had  to  sustain  the  loss; 
and  that,  too,  without  capitals  to  meet  it. 

Another  method  by  which  money  was  procured  of 
some  of  the  banks,  upon  long  loans,  was  by  discounts, 
upon  a  contract  to  receive  the  government  paper  that 
the  banks  held,  at  more  than  its  real  value.  The 
government  paper  thus  procured,  was  sold  by  those 
who  had  obtained  it  from  the  banks,  in  order  to  raise 
funds  to  meet  their  engagements.  These  transactions 
were  clearly  usurious.  The  speculating  capital  that 
was  created  by  these  various  manoeuvres  between  indi- 
viduals and  the  monied  institutions,  was  the  great 
reason  why  the  productions  of  this  country  did  not 
decline  in  price  long  before  they  did.     Had  this 


37 


decline  in  price  taken  place  soon  after  the  peace, 
and  before  the  merchants  became  deeply  involved, 
it  would  have  prevented  the  ruin  and  waste  that 
has  occurred  in  the  wealth  of  this  country.  The 
nation  has  suffered  by  it.  The  bankruptcy  and 
gloom  that  is  to  be  found  every  where,  proves  it.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  expatiate  upon  a  subject  that  is  felt 
by  all.  Visible  distress  speaks  in  a  language  more  for- 
cible than  words.  To  remedy  these  evils,  and  to 
place  things  in  their  regular  and  natural  course,  is  all 
that  is  required.  The  means  of  doing  this  is  partly  in 
the  power  of  individuals,  and  partly  in  the  hands  of  the 
legislature. 

From  this  review  of  the  business  of  New-York, 
and  of  our  country,  since  the  peace,  it  appears  that 
the  causes  of  the  present  distress  have  arisen, 

First.  From  the  very  situation  of  the  world,  a 
great  reduction  in  the  nominal  value  of  things  be- 
came necessary. 

Second.  A  system  of  over-trading  universally  pre- 
vailed ;  and, 

Third.  The  banks  of  our  country  have  made  use 
of  management  (in  order  to  make  their  stock  profita- 
ble) injurious  to  the  communityT 

The  remedy,  therefore,  for  the  embarrassments  is 
obvious.  It  is  by  doing  away  the  causes  that  have 
produced  them.  This,  however,  may  be  considered 
difficult.  There  is  a  natural  repugnance  in  the  mind  of 
every  one,  to  yield  up  those  things  which  they  hare  been 
accustomed  to  for  a  long  time.  The  manner  oi  living, 
and  the  style  of  life,  are,  of  all  things,  the  most  difficult 


38 


to  change.  Those  prices  that  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  give  or  receive  for  commodities,  are  most  generally 
considered  as  proper,  without  inquiry.  Besides,  there 
is  the  power  of  interest  to  be  overcome.  No  person 
is  willing  to  fall  one  third,  or  one  half,  from  what  he 
has  before  received,  however  strong  the  arguments 
may  be  for  the  propriety,  or  even  the  necessity  of  such  a 
measure.  Still,  however,  when  the  necessity  of  such  a 
measure  exists,  throughout  the  whole  community,  none 
but  those  who  are  in  debt  will  be  made  the  poorer  by 
it.  Property,  which  is  to  be  paid  for,  falls  in  their 
hands.  Money  increases  in  value.  Hence  they  feel 
the  effects  of  the  change  in  a  twofold  ratio. 

In  the  schedule  that  has  been  given,  it  is  curious  to 
observe  the  equality  in  the  change  in  the  price  of  la- 
bour and  provisions,  from  period  to  period.  A  bushel 
of  corn  has  uniformly  about  paid  for  a  day's  work,  for 
mowing  and  getting  in  hay,  in  New  England,  from  the 
first  settlement  down  to  the  present  day. 

The  necessity  of  a  reduction  in  the  nominal  value 
of  things,  is  generally  admitted.  The  great  difficulty 
appears  to  be  in  the  minds  of  many  to  ascertain  the 
proper  standard  to  which  things  must  be  reduced. 
This,  unquestionably, is  furnished  in  the  prices  of  1790. 
Rents,  living,  provisions,  labour,  fand,  goods,  cattle, 
travelling  expenses,  in  short,  every  thing  must  be 
placed  back  to  what  they  were  then.*    There  is  no- 

*  There  is  nothing  that  requires  redaction  more  than  rents. 
The  industrious  part  of  the  community  have  emphatically  been 
working  for  landlords  ever  since  the  peace.    It  is  much  to  be 


39 

thing  to  prevent  this  from  being  the  case,  unless  a  new 
series  of  wars  should  again  desolate  Europe ;  an 
event,  in  the  present  exhausted  condition  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  globe,  in  the  highest  degree  improbable. 
The  idea  of  such  an  occurrence  speedily  taking  place, 
is  fit  to  be  discussed  only  by  hot  headed  Porter 
House  politicians.  Heaven,  it  is  believed,  has  poured 
its  strongest  vial  of  wrath  on  man,  and  an  age  of  vir- 
tuous peace  is  now  about  to  follow. 

The  system  of  over-trading  has  destroyed  itself. 
It  has  been,  like  a  snow  ball,  rolled  over  and  over, 
constantly  accumulating,  until  it  is  crushed  by  its  own 
weight. 

The  banking  system  of  this  country  is  at  the  pre- 
sent time  its  greatest,  sorest  evil.  The  disclosures 
that  have  been  made  of  the  internal  management  of 
the  United  States  Bank,  and  the  facts  stated  in  this 
work  of  the  transactions  of  the  banks  of  this  city, 
prove  too  clearly  the  necessity  of  a  change  in  the 
whole  system.  Nearly  all  the  embarrassments  that 
have  taken  place  in  this  country  since  the  peace,  have 
arisen  from  the  speculating  character  of  our  monied 
institutions.  The  arm  of  law  must  correct  the  evil. 
To  temporise  with  them  would  -be  like  giving  opiates 
in  a  consumption — relieve  the  cough,  and  fix  the 
disease.  The  banks  in  the  interior  of  the  country  re- 
quire no  particular  notice.    Their  situation  and  cha- 

regretted  that  rents  generally  commence  at  the  same  time.  This 
alone  enables  the  landlords  to  get  at  least  15  per  cent,  more  than 
they  otherwise  would,  from  the  competition  of  tenants.  New- 
ark is  almost  the  only  city  where  this  is  the  practice. 


40 


racter  are  well  known — the  institutions  bankrupt,  and 
the  directors  rich,  The  management  that  the  bank 
directors  use  «s  immense  ;  instance  after  instance 
mighi  be  adduced  and  the  history  of  a  bank,  recently 
incorporate  ]  in  \Ttnv- York,  tells  the  simple  story — that 
the  directors  appointed  by  the  state  to  receive  sub- 
scriptions for  the  stock,  took  in  the  first  place  one  half 
of  the  -.bares  to  themselves.  This,  perhaps,  was  no 
more  than  a  reasonable  compensation  for  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  procuring  the  charter.  It  is  much  to 
be  regretted  that  the  national  legislature  does  not  pass 
a  law  prohibiting  banks  from  issuing  notes  of  a  less 
denomination  than  ten  or  twenty  dollars.  This  would 
have  the  happy  effect  of  throwing  the  precious 
metals  into  circulation,  and  destroy  the  fictitious 
banking  capital  which  is  created  by  the  vast  quan- 
tity of  paper  of  a  small  denomination  that  is  al- 
ways in  circulation.*  It  would  be  a  great  check 
upon  counterfeiting  and  the  commission  of  crimes. 
Nearly  all  the  forged  bank  paper  in  circulation  is  of  a 
less  denomination  than  twenty  dollars.  The  reasons 
of  this  are  obvious.  Small  notes  can  be  passed  to  the 
poor,  the  ignorant,  and  those  who  receive  but  little 

*  The  only  argument  in  favour  of  banks  is,  that  they  facilitate 
mercantile  operations,  and  that  they  enable  men  of  capacity,  but 
of  small  or  no  capital,  to  engage  in  business,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  mere  names  of  their  friends.  It  has  never  been  seriously 
contended,  that  they  were  necessary  to  furnish  a  circulating  me- 
dium for  a  nation.  In  times  of  great  distress,  some  nations  have 
resorted  to  a  paper  system  ,  but  the  reaction  of  its  effects  have 
always  overbalanced  the  temporary  advantages  it  afforded. 


41 


money.  They  are  likewise  taken  with  less  attention 
than  larger  ones.  American  gold  eagles  and  half- 
eagles  can  be  used  with  as  much  ease  as  bank  notes. 
Indeed,  Providence  seems  to  have  intended  gold  and 
silver  for  the  circulating  medium  of  the  world.  Their 
great  specific  gravity  above  baser  metals,  and  their 
other  distinct  characters,  almost  exclude  the  possi- 
bility of  deception. 

National  industry  must  likewise  be  revived,  and 
family  manufactures  practised  as  they  formerly  were.* 
The  idea  that  it  is  better  to  buy  because  it  will  cost 
less  than  it  will  to  make  what  conveniently  can  be 
done  in  a  family,  keeps  many  poor.  That  part  of 
our  mercantile  system  that  gives  the  profit  and  credit 
of  our  business  to  foreigners  who  reside  out  of  this 

*  The  principal  reason  why  many  of  the  manufactories  of  this 
country  do  not  pay  a  reasonable  profit  to  the  owners,  is  because 
they  are  owned  by  large  companies.  The  expenses  of  a  presi- 
dent, of  directors,  of  overseers,  of  agents,  of  clerks,  are  first  to 
be  paid.  There  is  likewise  much  negligence  and  waste  about 
many  of  them.  In  short,  the  history  of  many  of  these  institutions 
is,  that  the  stockholders  have  only  interest  enough  in  them  to 
talk  about  them,  and  wonder  and  complain  because  they  do  not 
pay  a  profit.  Their  interest  is  not  sufficient  to  induce  them  to 
take  the  active  management  and  oversight  themselves.  Whilst 
Congress  are  legislating  upon  this  subject,  it  might  be  advisable 
to  pass  a  law  regulating  the  measurement  and  some  other  things 
about  American  manufactures.  "  The  Convention  of  the  Friends 
of  National  Industry"  were  silent  on  this  subject,  at  their  late 
meeting.  England  has  a  law  to  prevent  fraud  aud  deception  in 
these  respects. 


<4 


42 


country,  must  be  changed  as  much  as  possible;  this 
requires  the  annihilation  of  auctions. 

Our  commerce  must  be  encouraged.  There  is  no- 
thing that  gives  more  active  employment  than  ships, 
or  tends  more  to  keep  money  in  circulation.  The 
trade  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  South  Seas  should  be 
encouraged.  The  field  that  is  there  opening  for  com- 
merce is  immense,  and  it  lays  in  the  power  of  this 
country  to  monopolize  almost  the  whole  of  it.  The 
course  of  trade  is  now  undergoing  a  great  change.  South 
America,  the  North  West  Coast  of  America,  many  of 
the  islands  in  the  South  and  India  seas,  are  a  vast 
field  opened  to  the  genius  and  enterprise  of  our  coun- 
try. The  United  States  have  the  means  of  gaining 
greater  mercantile  advantages  from  China  than  any 
European  nation  can  possess.  The  trade  between 
this  country  and  the  Chinese  empire  is  becoming 
more  and  more  in  our  favour,  and  must  continue  to  be 
so.* 

The  internal  trade  of  the  United  States  is  rapidly 
increasing.  The  vast  extent  of  this  country,  the 
great  variety  of  its  soil,  climate,  and  productions,  the 
immense  advantages  that  it  possesses  by  nature  for 

*  The  first  vessels  from  this  country  that  ever  performed 
voyages  to  Canton,  were  a  vessel  that  previously  had  been  em- 
ployed as  an  Albany  sloop,  rigged  into  a  brig,  and  commanded 
by  Captain  Dean — the  other,  was  the  ship  Empress  of  China 
They  sailed  from  New- York  about  the  year  1784.  Commo- 
dore Truxtun  about  the  same  time  made  a  voyage  from  Philadel- 
phia. These  vessels  were  furnished  with  papers  by  the  old 
Continental  Congress. 


43 


inland  communication,  and  the  noble  works  that  are 
now  going  on  to  facilitate  and  aid  these  advantages, 
opens  a  field  for  internal  trade  and  commerce  almost 
be)  ond  conception.  Let  the  present  evils  in  our  in- 
ternal system  be  corrected,  and  the  unity  of  the  States 
preserved  entire,  our  posterity  will  see  the  United 
States  capable  of  becoming  the  mistress  of  the  world.* 

*  The  writer  last  summer  saw  at  Detroit,  a  vessel  of  about 
ten  tons  burden,  that  was  built  in  Connecticut.  She  performed 
the  voyage  from  Norwich,  Con.  to  Cleaveland,  Ohio,  with  a  fa- 
mily of  six  persons  ;  the  whole  expense  of  the  voyage,  including 
provisions,  was  only  fifty  dollars.  The  whole  distance  is  about 
700  miles  ;  of  this  she  had  to  be  drawn  on  wheels,  twenty  miles, 
This  vessel  had  ploughed  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  and  bound- 
ed on  the  billows  of  Lake  Michigan ! 


